


Gut Feelings Are Never Good

by CaptainJimothyCarter



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [13]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Agent Carter - Freeform, Agents of SHIELD, Angst, Angst/Comfort, But May's control over Steve and Steve trying to figure this out?, But Steve poor Steve, But damn is she grateful Steve is here, Drabble, F/M, His worry for Peggy, Hunter deserves what he gets, I mean the Avengrs know Coulson is alive and no one is happylmao, I really should've flushed this out, Okay he did Sif told him, Peggy is not a damsel, This is a HUGE clash, Thor kinda knew, Whitehall - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26786263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJimothyCarter/pseuds/CaptainJimothyCarter
Summary: Something is wrong and Steve can feel that cold feeling gnawing in his gut as he stares at the photos on the screen. He should be furious that Coulson is alive, but instead, he can't turn away from the photos of the love of his life young and alive and working with the infamous Whitehall aka Hydra.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Phil Coulson & Steve Rogers, There's too many friendships
Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952281
Kudos: 18





	Gut Feelings Are Never Good

**Author's Note:**

> This one was a doozy that I could've gone on forever with.

Something was wrong. Something _had_ to be wrong. Steve never thought he would be begging the images on the monitor to be wrong before but here he was. 

He tried to ignore apparently a not-dead Coulson and Agent May’s looks. His hand gripped the shield tightly and tried to steady his breathing, his eyes never pulling from the screen until Fitz had switched it off.

“Captain Ro-“ Coulson began, a limit timid.

“Steve.”

“Steve. I know what you’re thinking, what you _want_ to happen but we’ve been over these images a hundred times, and a hundred times more with the best people we have at our disposal, these images are real.”

“They can’t be!” Steve wasn’t aware of the anger rising in him until he was clenching his fist, looking between the two _head_ agents.

“And why the hell not?” May asked, giving Steve a firm look. “I think you out of all people should know the mysterious circumstances of things and how the world works. We wouldn’t have called you here if we didn’t think they were real, _Captain Rogers.”_

Steve didn’t correct her, honestly, he didn’t even hear her. All he felt was the pain of his fist going through Coulson’s wooden desk. They ignored the fluttering of files and clutter of items collapsing to the floor. His knuckles were most likely broken but at this point, the pain was a welcome distraction.

_“Because there’s no way in hell Peggy would agree under any circumstances to work with that bastard._ She put him away for good! I read her records, we all have. She wouldn’t use him to-to deage. That’s not Peggy.”

“People change,” Hunter mused, shrugging his shoulders. Steve hadn’t even seen the man come in, his hands held up when Steve whirled on him and took three strides closer. There was a good foot height difference between them. “She’s dying and when people start to go, they get desperate. Look, Cap, no ones blaming her if she did but the evidence says she’s working for Whitehall, and if that’s so, then-“

Steve’s hand closed around Hunter’s neck before he could stop himself, seeing nothing but red. He didn’t choke the man or lift him from the floor, much as he wanted to. He just stared straight into his eyes, aware that May had pulled her gun on him.

“If you’re saying that _Hunter,_ then you never truly knew Peggy. You have no damn idea what the hell she and I have been through during that war so you can sit here and serve Shield and not Schmidt. What the hell the both of I have lost. Agent Carter is a better person than I will ever be. She has morals and ideas that I can never match.”

Coulson’s hand laid over May’s arm, giving a shake of his head. They watched Steve stalk out of the room, the other agents scurrying out of the way.

“What the hell was that for?” Hunter groaned, rubbing at his neck.

“You perfectly insulted his ex-fiance,” Coulson replied, picking up the model of Lola from the floor. “If you ask me, Cap let you off easy.”

\--

Clint and Natasha were _not_ happy to have been lied to. Tony says he wasn’t surprised, Bruce was just more relieved than any of them. Thor said in a sheepish tone that he already knew thanks to Lady Sif, then came another whole term of arguments between them until things settled. And for the most part, Steve sat away from them, listening to the debate about Coulson and the very fact Peggy Carter was not only alive but _young_ and working with Hydra.

“That’s not her,” Steve muttered to Natasha when she sat beside him, throwing her feet up on the table.

“I know.” Simply put. She knew.

“That _can’t_ be her. Peggy would rather die than work with Hydra. Not Whitehall, not of all people. She-she can’t.”

“Regardless of the story, Steve, we’ll understand it. Fully.”

\--

It was two full days later before Fitz was able to determine a location based on the photos. An underground base through a history of ownership dated back to Schmidt. That makes sense. Just hearing that name made Steve’s blood boil. He could barely listen to Coulson and his plan. All he could think of was Peggy and what the hell Whitehall could be doing to her.

The plan was quickly forgotten about when Steve heard Peggy’s whimpering pain. He threw his shoulder into the door, holding his shield tightly in his hand.

There she was, just as the photos had dictated. Laid out on a gurney, strapped down with blood pumping through her system.

This wasn’t the same Peggy as before. She was younger, _much_ younger and despite the lack of gray hair and wrinkles, her eyes were just as sharp. They fell to Steve and she gritted her teeth, tugging on the bonds.

“Take another step towards me, soldier and you’ll find the reason Whitehall strapped me here.” Steve couldn’t help but smirk at Peggy’s smart comment. That was her. “Who are you and why in the hell are you wearing Captain Rogers’ face?”

“Peggy, it’s me,” Steve said slowly, calmly, not letting go of the Shield. “It’s you. God, it's really you.” He was trying not to cry, to be sedimental but he couldn’t. Tears burned in his eyes as he reached slowly to pull out his dented dog tags.

_“Cap, we gotta go,”_ Tony warned.

She gritted her teeth, that machine, whatever the hell it was, was causing her pain. He couldn’t destroy it, couldn’t get near it without hurting her. “F-fine!” She snapped. “Prove to me you’re Captain Rogers then. Tell me one thing only he would know.”

“July 4th,” Steve said simply, knowing he wasn’t helping Peggy believe him. “1944. You went out of your way to buy me a birthday cake from a lady in town. It was…terrible. God, it was terrible. It tasted like charcoal. Seeing you take a bite, you almost spat it back out but I choked it down for both our sakes because you went through so much trouble.” He paused, trying to think if it was enough. And in the off chance.

“You got sick one winter. _Really_ sick, to the point Phillips considered sending you back to London so you could see a real doctor, not be in the midst of the cold weather. You refused. You were delirious with a fever and so cold. He let me take you to a room you rented and take care of you. I had to nurse you back to health with my ma’s recipes and limited cooking skills. That’s the first time you told me you loved me.”

There it was, that look in her eyes. She believed him without saying a word. Steve rushed forward and undid the needles from her arm, being careful not to tear a vein. “Later,” Peggy whispered to Steve’s worried looks as he picked her up and threw her on his back, leaving his hands free for the shield. “How did you find me?”

“Sleepy and Dopey,” Steve mused, shrugging his shoulders as he double-checked the hallway, tapping his com. “Coulson, Stark?”

_“Come on!”_ The shouting order from Clint and Bobbi at the end of the hall leads Steve to run straight to them. One ahead, one behind is how they made it to ground level and just in time for the warehouse to collapse in on itself, causing a giant sinkhole right in the middle of a large field in God knows where in this arctic.

Coulson shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around Peggy’s shoulders, letting Mack and Hunter take her straight to the Quin Jet. “Director Carter,” he mused with a polite smile, turning to look at Steve. “We’ll have to keep her for questioning. Make sure –“

“I’m staying,” Steve said firmly, daring the man to say otherwise.

Instead, Coulson smiled and patted Steve’s arm. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”


End file.
